Eight winning architecture projects have been announced at the Dezeen Awards ceremony in London, with The Storefront Theater by Matthew Mazzotta taking the overall Architecture Project of the Year prize.
Mazzotta’s modest project, which also won the Rebirth Project of the Year category, creates retractable theatre seating in a disused storefront in Lyons, a small town in Nebraska that has witnessed the decline of its main street shopping district.
“This poetic and powerful project has generated the most interesting conversation and has got us the most excited,” said the Dezeen Awards architecture master jury.
“Architecture is for the community and this is the project that serves the community the most.”
The House of the Year category was won by House in Miyamoto by Tato Architects, which features a multi-level interior where furniture doubles as circulation.
“This project questions the way we think about sections in a house and how privacy plays a role in today’s homes,” the judges said. “It explores how we can share spaces with other people in a new and contemporary way.”
Housing Project of the Year went to Dongziguan Affordable Housing by Gad Line+ Studio.
“This is a really interesting updating of vernacular ways of living,” judges said of the low-cost housing project for farmers in rural China. “It is a modern approach to rural living with added value to the community.”
AmorePacific Headquarters Seoul by David Chipperfield Architects won Tall Building of the Year.
Judges praised its “interesting use of voids and negative space to break up the scale of the high-rise”. They described the headquarters for the Korean beauty conglomerate as “very delicate and elegant for what is essentially a megastructure”.
Bamboo Sports Hall by Chiangmai Life Architects was the winner of Civic and Cultural Building of the Year.
“This beautifully designed structure transforms the sports hall, the most formulaic of educational spaces, into a place of celebration that could continue to change its use,” judges said. “This is a school where people can care about the spaces where they learn.”
The Business Building of the Year category was won by Bloomberg by Foster + Partners, a corporate headquarters in London.
This building appears quite modestly on the street outside but once inside, you enter a different world that’s energetic and exciting,” judges said. “The central atrium and walkways create a sense of dynamic energy.”
Hospitality Building of the Year went to Maggie’s Centre Barts by Steven Holl Architects.
Judges praised the London cancer-care centre as “a good statement to understand how we can expand the concept of hospitality to include solace, care and communality”.
They added that the semi-translucent building “successfully deals with the complex historical context whilst balancing openness with privacy”.
Small Building of the Year was won by Okana Centre for Change by Laura Katharina Straehle and Ellen Rouwendal.
Judges described the modest community centre in Kenya as “a thoughtful and surprisingly rich collection of spaces. They said it was “a successful marriage of architectural ambition and the needs and practicality of setting up a school”.
All eight category winners and the overall winner were announced at the Dezeen Awards ceremony in London on 27 November 2018, along with the winners in the design, interiors and studio categories.
Each winner was presented with a hand-made trophy designed by Atelier NL.
See all winners at www.dezeen.com/awards/winners.
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